Activist Commentary: Starboard is a very successful activist investor and has extensive experience helping companies focus on operational efficiency and margin improvement.
With 90%+ gross margins and 35% operating margins, Autodesk is a leader in AEC software.
Further, its operating margins are not much worse than those of its peers at first blush.
However, Starboard correctly does not judge the company's operating margins on the mean of its peer set, but by the potential embodied in its gross margins and market position.
He no longer serves on the board of Autodesk, but he could certainly be an informal advisor to Starboard – or a cautionary tale for Autodesk.
Persons:
Max, Russell, Deborah Clifford, Clifford, bode, Sachem, Andrew Anagnost, designees, Rick Hill, Hill, designee, Ken Squire
Organizations:
Autodesk, Engineering, Manufacturing, Media, Entertainment, Manufacturing Solutions, Wonder, Delaware Chancery, —, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Delaware Court, Marvell Technology, Symantec, 13D
Locations:
Delaware, Autodesk's